Oklahoma Small Business Gets Early Win in Lawsuit Challenging Restrictions on Selling Caskets

OKLAHOMA CITY—On Thursday, the District Court of Oklahoma County denied the state of Oklahoma’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit challenging its restrictions on selling caskets. The lawsuit was brought in February by Caskets of Honor owners Candi Mentink and Todd Collard, and their attorneys from the Institute for Justice (IJ).     

“This is a massive first step toward protecting the rights of all Oklahomans to earn an honest living free from unreasonable government regulations,” said IJ Attorney Betsy Sanz.  “We now look forward to making the case that these restrictions are unconstitutional on the merits.”  

Current law requires any Oklahoman who wants to sell caskets to customers in the state to obtain a funeral director or embalmer license. In order to obtain a license, one must take two years of classes on mortuary science, get a grade of 75 percent on two tests that have nothing to do with building caskets, do a one-year apprenticeship, and pay various fees. And any Oklahoma business that wants to sell caskets to the public must become a licensed funeral home—even businesses like Caskets of Honor, which don’t offer any funeral or embalming services and don’t have any funeral facilities. 

“We’re thrilled to get this first victory in our case and we’ll keep fighting for the rights of all Oklahomans to work in the field they want without spending time and money learning things that have nothing to do with the work they’re doing,” said Candi.  

The case will now proceed to being heard on the merits.